In her column in the Aug. 31 issue, Claudia McDonnell captured how good friendships can be as meaningful, especially for children, as close family relatives. Support in life can be very fragile, especially when difficulties arise. Miss McDonnell deftly refers to her “courtesy aunts and uncles” as extended members of her family.

Can we relate this to statistics that show how many children are in one-parent families and how courtesy uncles and aunts can be even more important in these children’s lives? Children need the guidance of adults who have strong moral convictions, as Uncle Larry did, to grow and develop into highly functioning, morally strong adults.

Miss McDonnell has given us a worthy example of a “Catholic gentleman” who was and still is a role model for children.